The U.S. Federal Trade Commission won't block Google's $750 million acquisition of mobile advertising vendor AdMob because the deal isn't likely to harm competition in the emerging mobile advertising market, the agency said today.
Google's acquisition of AdMob, announced in late 2009, combines the two leading mobile advertising networks in the U.S., raising "serious antitrust concerns," the FTC said in a statement. But Apple's announcement in April that it would launch its own ad network "overshadowed" the antitrust concerns that the FTC had about Google's AdMob acquisition, the agency said.
"As a result of Apple's entry [into the market], AdMob's success to date on the iPhone platform is unlikely to be an accurate predictor of AdMob's competitive significance going forward, whether AdMob is owned by Google or not," the FTC said in a statement.
Several other companies appear to be developing or acquiring smartphone platforms to better compete against Apple's iPhone and Google's Android, the FTC said. These companies would have a strong incentive in maintaining a competitive mobile advertising industry, the FTC said.
Google praised the FTC's decision in a blog post by Susan Wojcicki, the company's vice president of product management.
"Throughout the FTC's review process, it's been clear that mobile advertising is growing rapidly," she wrote. "As mobile phone usage increases, growth in mobile advertising is only going to accelerate. This benefits mobile developers and publishers who will get better advertising solutions, marketers who will find new ways to reach consumers, and users who will get better ads and more free content."
The FTC's decision comes after reports suggesting the agency might oppose the deal. In April,